Five transfers will be joining the Tennessee State women’s volleyball program for 2018, as the program is looking to bolster its roster following an 11th place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference last year. All five came out of the junior college/community college ranks and four will be juniors in 2018 with the exception being a sophomore.
The first transfer is Khalia Jordan, a 5’8″ outside hitter from Grossmont College. In her most recent season she logged 176 kills, 181 digs (most on the team), 36 blocks and 23 aces as a six rotation player. Prior to that she attended Cal State Dominguez Hills straight after Olympian High School.
Junior number two is 5’6″ defensive specialist/outside hitter Destiny Washington from Austin, Texas and Hill College. At her previous stop she was first-team all-conference and all-region behind her 2.66 kills and 2.75 digs per set. Her team had plenty of success as well in a 24-1 record.
The lone sophomore coming in is 5’7″ right side Kayla Grady. The Nashville, Tennessee native was previously with John A. Logan College where she won a regular season conference championship while notching 1.88 kills and 2.43 digs per set. She also tacked on 53 blocks and 37 aces in 88 sets of action.
The fourth piece of the puzzle is 5’11” junior outside hitter JoJo Kruize, who was previously with Southern Idaho. At the NJCAA school she recorded 2.24 kills and 2.95 digs per set to go with her team-best 41 aces. Those numbers pushed her to the Region 18 Honorable Mention team, while she was also an NJCAA Academic All-American.
Rounding out the quintet is Laken Te’o, a junior-to-be setter previously at Salt Lake Community College. The Hawaii native was part of a 21-6 (8-2 league) record for Salt Lake CC as she logged 559 assists (6.01 per set), 184 digs (1.98 per set), 22 aces and 14 kills.
The 2018 season for the Tigers begins on August 24 with matches against Stetson and Florida A&M. They finished 2017 with a 7-23 record overall and a 3-13 mark as a member of the OVC.
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